Farmers resolved to water savings, just want rules to be fair

PLAINVIEW — It was a humble assembly — 90 or so farmers in jeans, fleece and baseball caps gathered in a chilly room south of town to discuss a proposal to parch their multibillion-dollar livelihood and a bedrock of the region’s economy.

Grumbling rippled through the room as they flipped through the 48 pages of rule changes offered by the High Plains Underground Water Conservation District. The locally elected regulator, responsible for 17 counties including Lubbock, could bar drilling new wells into the most heavily drained parts of the Ogallala Aquifer and cap the amount of water farmers draw to quench their crops.

But for a conservative West Texas crowd facing a spigot jammed in their business, there was a surprising lack of anger. The growers and agribusiness workers seemed less interested in killing the proposal than having more time to shape and swallow it.

Many said improvements in farm technology and shifts in the crops they plant would let them weather the changes.

Their focus Thursday was making sure all of their neighbors — including the city of Lubbock — faced the same challenges.

“We’ve gotta do something,” said Ronald Groves, who said he’d farmed southwest of Hale Center almost all of his 61 years. “But how do we get there fairly?”

Farmers and agribusiness associations who have spoken with The Avalanche-Journal from across the region have described as almost inevitable the rule changes that have rocked a major source of the nation’s cotton, as well as corn, wheat and other crops.

More than half of the agricultural acreage depends on water from the Ogallala, the massive underground formation stretching into Nebraska. But years of dependency on the resource have especially over the past decade taken a toll on areas of the aquifer, district general manager Jim Conkwright said.

Water very slowly replenishes the huge formation, making the aquifer vulnerable, despite its size. Cities, industries and farmers who tap the Ogallala have mined the water, rather than just borrowed it.

The district last year set a state-required goal to preserve 50 percent of the groundwater in the Ogallala today over the next 50 years.

Rules set for public hearings later this month would meet those goals by first focusing on portions of the aquifer draining the fastest.

The district could forbid drilling new wells in high-use areas and limit pumping to a little more than 407,000 gallons an acre — a sum that could drop each year the area continues to deplete the aquifer at a fast rate. Violating the rules can draw fines of as much as $10,000 a day.

The rate would limit farmers to enough water to cover an acre of land in 15 inches of water. Corn can require more than 18 inches in some parts of the region. Alfalfa and peanuts could also struggle under such limits, said Calvin Trostle, an agronomist with Texas Agrilife.

Growers would purchase water meters approved by the district under the proposed rules. Measurements in December or January would monitor compliance with the pumping limits.

Portions of Castro, Parmer and Hale County, where the aquifer has declined by as much as 7 feet over the last five years, could face restrictions in 2012.

“There’s not going to be water there in another three years to support it,” Conkwright said. “Those areas seem to be slipping quicker than the lower-use areas.”

That meant, some of the growers at the Plainview meeting noted, the district’s own board members could be some of the first affected.

Board President Robert Meyer spent Thursday tilling his land for corn before talking to The Avalanche-Journal.

“I’m in corn country, so I’ve gotten a lot of calls,” Meyer said. “It’s been all over the board.”

Even the most worried accepted that something would change, he said. Many of the callers just wanted to know how they'd arrived at their rules.

“Nothing’s a slam-dunk deal,” Meyer said. “Nothing’s set in stone at this point.”

That included concern about the treatment of cities, including Lubbock, which drew swift attention during the grower meeting.

Draft rules allowed cities to count acreage within their city limits toward their total pumping allowance, which would inflate the amount of water Lubbock could pump from a Bailey County well field.

Some of Jimmy Wedel's 4,500 acres of farmland neighbor the well field, and he wondered if the city couldn't draw him in to the high-decline, more regulated area. Michael Dolle of Plainview Ag Distributors was especially wary of the language.

"That should throw a red flag for everyone in the room," Dolle said.

Conkwright said the district was studying the municipal section to see if they had inadvertently created a loophole.

The district hoped for similar fixes and ideas during public meetings set to begin March 23, Meyer said. Smaller groups of farmers across the region were already forming to scrutinize the rules and make their own recommendations.

"Apathy will not win us any battles," Dolle said.

To comment on this story:

elliott.blackburn@lubbockonline.com • 766-8722

james.ricketts@lubbockonline.com • 766-8701

Meetings set around regionPublic hearings are set for late March on the proposed rules. Download the proposals at http://www.hpwd.com.

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This is what I have been saying since the 80's when we had to stop irrigating because we ran out of water in Terry, Lynn, Hockley and Lubbock countys! Other farmers are still drilling new wells to try to make up for the loss in water. This and urban sprall and lack of rain is the reason for the decline of the water levels. I see farmers today running their wells with nothing planted!! WHY??? Total waste of precious water... I for one would like to have a cold drink of water than a wad of money in the bank!! A shower once in a while would not be bad either. Regulation should have started 30 years ago. However, It is all about the money....... I hope it is not to late, for our grandkids sake......